By Lois E. Wilson
“Tom, is that you? I haven’t seen you in ages; where have you been?”
“Hello, Fred! Would you be surprised if I told you I moved back to town a few months ago?
I’m planning to retire soon. I left the South because I can’t tolerate 12 months of heat, and how many days in a row can you fish without getting bored?”
“Not many, I’ll agree with you there. Are you and Mary still together? I know you had some problems. Is everything OK now?”
“Every year on our anniversary, I ask her, do you want to do this one more year? So far, she has always agreed. So the years are counting up. How is your family? Do they all live in the area?”
“Yes, they do. Sally and I are very lucky in that respect. Do your sons and their families live nearby?”
“No, they live on different coasts of the country. I seldom see my grandchildren. Do you have any? If so, how often do you see them?”
“Whenever I want. We do lots of things together including fishing. It’s never boring being with them. What are you going to do when you’re retired with all that free time? By the way, didn’t you teach Sunday school and do some volunteer coaching with young teams? Did you enjoy that?”
“I certainly did—we even won a trophy or two. I have physical problems and am not able to do coaching now, why did you ask?”
“Well, there is an organization in the county which tutors grade-school students in the basics such as reading and math. It is Empowering Darke County Youth. It provides after-school and summer programs at no cost to the families. It can always use volunteers, especially now when we’re all trying to get back on track after the pandemic. Sally and I work with it however and whenever we can. Would you be interested in volunteering to help out the community? Best of all, there’s no fish to clean!”
“It sounds interesting, but do I have any skills that would help?”
“You certainly do! You worked in sales and public relations. If you don’t want to tutor, your talents and experience would be extremely helpful in other ways. On the home page of the countynewsonline.org. website, click on the choice: Empowering Youth—you’ll find guidance there on how to proceed. It has many ways to volunteer—can you get your creative wife involved too?”
“I’ll ask her. Fred, did you realize that almost all our conversation has been in the form of questions? That’s how we learn facts. Agree?”
“Yes, that’s unquestionable!”